A Brief History ~ Lectors / Lay Readers

The office of Lector or Reader was necessitated by the public reading of Scripture, an essential element in both Jewish & Christian worship. The development of the role of lector/reader in these two religious traditions exhibits striking similarities

Jewish Setting:

By the 4th century B.C. the Israelites knew the public reading of the law.  But the worshipof the synagogue, however, provides the first evidence for Lectors as a regular feature of Jewish prayer life.  Both the Torah and the Haphtarah were read in the liturgy of the synagogue, at least from the time of Jesus.  Luke 4:16-20

At first any member of the community could be summoned to read, including women, minors and slaves.  Over time, however, those eligible to read became restricted. Women were excluded in Tannaitic times, as were boys, when reading became an initiatory rite for those celebrating their Bar Mitzvah.  Eventually only adult men wee allowed to read.

Christian Setting - Early Church:

The early church adapted the role of Lector from the synagogue.  While anyone was eligible to read, the requirement of literacy and the difficulty of deciphering the un-spaced and un-punctuated text limited the number of persons capable of performing the task.  Accordingly, the skills that the task required lent importance to the role of lector.

By the 3rd century, again emulating development in the synagogue, the church was establishing a lectorate. In his Apostolic Tradition Hippolytus noted, "The reader is appointed by the Bishop giving him a book, for he is not ordained."

Fourth century reference to the office of Lector are found for Asia Minor, Syria Palestine, Cappadocia, and Africa.

There are references to lectors in Spain from the 6th century.  In the Roman West, lectors were counted among the lower or minor orders of clergy, along with doorkeepers, exorcists, and acolytes.

To the Middle Ages:

As Christian worship moved from homes to church buildings, the lector read from the Ambo the selections of scripture to be proclaimed in the assembly, and later sang some elements of the liturgy; notably psalms and vesicles.

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